Most Expensive Painting - Top 10 Most Expensive Auction Items - TIME Top 10 Most Expensive Auction Items Auction house Sotheby's announced Sept. 9 that it will sell a rare John James Audubon tome, Birds of America, and expect it to fetch between $6.2 million and $9.2 million  making it the world's most expensive book. Only 119 copies of the bird book  most of which exist in museums and libraries  remain. Here's a look at some other pricey auction items Item: Pablo Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves and Bust Winning Bid: $106.5 million Sold: 2010 All it took was a little over 8 minutes to set the record price for a piece of art sold at auction. On May 4, Christie's sold Pablo Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, a painting created in the span of a single day in 1932, for $106.5 million dollars. The painting, which is of Picasso's lover Marie-Therese Walter, was previously owned by a California philanthropist.

The price beats the previous record for a piece of art, set this past February, of $104.3 million, for Giacometti's sculpture "Walking Man I." This is not nearly the first time a Picasso has sold for a record price, however. In 2004, the painting Boy with a Pipe (The Young Apprentice), sold for a then astounding $104.1 million. A Picasso Sets an Auction Record: $106.5 Million - The New York Times The New York Times Art & Design |At $106.5 Million, a Picasso Sets an Auction Record Search Continue reading the main story A painting that Picasso created in a single day in March 1932 became the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction on Tuesday night. In an overflowing salesroom at Christie’s , six bidders vied for “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust,” which depicts the artist’s mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter, reclining naked. When the canvas last changed hands, in 1951, it sold for $19,800. But this time, “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” brought $106.5 million.

For 8 minutes and 6 seconds, bidding rose steadily, with five people still competing at $80 million. Nicholas Hall, of Christie’s old master paintings department in New York, took the winning bid for an unidentified buyer. “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” broke the record set a few months ago by “Walking Man I” — one of Alberto Giacometti’s signature bronze sculptures. It brought $104.3 million at Sotheby’s in London in February. Picasso had reigned before that when “Boy With a Pipe (The Young Apprentice),” a 1905 canvas from the artist’s Rose Period, sold for $104.1 million at Sotheby’s in New York in 2004. Photo “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust,” a 1932 Picasso. Credit Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society, New York, via Christie's . “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” is considered a seminal work from a high point of Picasso’s career. Before the auction, experts at Christie’s cautiously talked about a price around $80 million.

On Tuesday night, Edward Dolman, Christie’s chief executive, said, “The market is much stronger than we expected, with depth of buying from Russia, China and the Middle East.” Mr. Dolman said most of the top works were bought by collectors living outside the United States. Of the 69 works on offer, 13 failed to sell. The sale totaled $335.5 million. It had been expected to bring $262.7 million to $368 million. Final prices include the buyer’s commission to Christie’s: 25 percent of the first $50,000, 20 percent of the next $50,000 to $1 million and 12 percent of the rest. Estimates do not reflect commissions. Advertisement Continue reading the main story “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” was being sold from the estate of the Los Angeles philanthropist Frances Lasker Brody. Mrs. Brody, who died in November, was the wife of Sidney F. Brody, a real estate developer who died in 1983. The Brodys’ Modernist house in the Holmby Hills neighborhood was a showcase for their collection.

In addition to Picasso, the Brodys loved Giacometti. Two of his works from their collection also sold high on Tuesday, thanks in large part to “Walking Man I.” “That certainly injected an enormous amount of confidence,” Mr. Dolman said. Four bidders tried to buy “Grande Tête Mince,” a bust of the artist’s brother, Diego, that was conceived in 1954 and cast a year later. Guy Bennett, a private New York dealer, bought the sculpture for $47.5 million, or $53.2 million with Christie’s fees, well above its high $35 million estimate. Photo Christie’s employees took telephone bids during the eight-minute auction for “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust,” a 1932 Picasso. Credit Yana Paskova for The New York Times A Giacometti sculpture of a skulking cat, conceived in 1951 and cast in 1955, which had been expected to fetch $12 million to $18 million, brought $20.8 million.

The bronze figure, nearly a yard long with its rich patina, is particularly desirable because the artist only made sculptures of two animals, cats and dogs, and they rarely come up for sale. Brett Gorvy, a co-head of Christie’s postwar and contemporary art department , took the winning bid for a telephone buyer. Christie’s won the Brody estate over its archrival Sotheby’s by offering the heirs a guarantee — an undisclosed sum promised to the seller regardless of the sale’s outcome. And with that property, the auction house was able to persuade other collectors to sell. Donald L. Bryant Jr., a New York businessman, decided to ride the Giacometti wave by selling “The Hand,” a bronze sculpture with an open palm and thin, elongated, outstretched fingers, conceived in 1947 and cast in 1948; it brought $23 million, or $25.8 million with fees. It had been estimated to sell for $10 million to $15 million. Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to.

Sign Up Privacy Policy Late Picassos have been all the rage, and “Seated Woman With a Cat,” a 1964 painting of the artist’s wife, Jacqueline, with a small black cat in her lap, brought $16 million, or $18 million with Christie’s fees, above its $15 million estimate. The evening was not without some big disappointments. “Fertility,” an 1899-1900 painting by Edvard Munch depicting a male and female with blank faces posed under a tree, was expected to fetch $25 million to $35 million. But the painting failed to sell; bidding stopped at $23 million. But it was the record-setting Picasso that captivated the audience. Before the sale, dealers said several prominent collectors were thought to be bidding on it, including Kenneth C. Griffin, chief executive of the Citadel Investment Group in Chicago; Leslie H. Wexner, the Columbus, Ohio, collector; Steven A. Cohen, the Connecticut hedge-fund billionaire; Joseph Lau, a Hong Kong collector; and Roman Abramovich, the Russian financier. But who took home the painting is a mystery for now.

A version of this article appears in print on May 5, 2010, on Page A25 of the New York edition with the headline: At $106.5 Million, a Picasso Sets an Auction Record for Artwork. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe What is so special about Picasso's painting Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust? - Quora Quora Written May 12, 2015 In purely economic terms Picasso's painting Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust, 1932, is extraordinary for its value, having sold at auction for $106.5 million in 2010, making it one of the most expensive works ever sold at auction. (Though more recently, in May 2015, Picasso's Women of Algiers version O sold for $160 million!) Before that, it had been owned by Los Angeles collectors Sidney and Frances Brody since 1951. See: Here a couple of pictures of the Brody House, which was designed by A.

Quincy Jones in 1949: As a bonus, here's a mural by Matisse in the same house, now owned by LACMA: I've talked about the economics of art prices in some of my other answers, so I won't address this here. Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust looks like this: It's a big painting, at 162 cm × 130 cm (64 in × 51 in). Here's a portrait of Picasso in front of the work, taken by photographer Cecil Beaton: The woman is Marie Thérèse Walter, Picasso's mistress. Picasso depicted her a great deal during this time. Here's a webpage for an exhibition that focuses on his art depicting her, and gives a background of their relationship. Picasso's Marie-Thérèse Above her figure is a painting of a bust that he created in 1931. Here are a couple of photographs of it: Picasso was known for making sculptures, and for painting versions of those sculptures into subsequent works. You can see one such painting in the last photo of Marie Thérèse's bust.

Take a look at some other of Picasso's works from around the same time: Figures at the Seaside, 1931 Seated Woman in a Red Armchair, 1931 A Dream, 1932 A Lamp, 1931 A Lamp is interesting because it's almost a study of the upper part of Picasso's larger painting, with the bust and the plant. Notice how Picasso goes to Marie Thérèse as a subject again and again, and also depicts his bust of her repeatedly in paintings as well. Head of Marie Thérèse, 1932 The Dreamer, 1932, again uses the same pose by Marie Thérèse and the plant, breaking down the biomorphic shapes in a similar way. Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust is special because it's a major work of art by Picasso, who was the most important, influential painter of the twentieth century. It relates to other paintings of the time by him in their focus on the nude Marie Thérèse as a subject, and develops Picasso's style at the time.

Color becomes more important for Picasso during this time, and he's moved past his Cubist works, including Synthetic Cubism of the late 1910s and 1920s. He's also moved past his version of neoclassicism that he experimented with in the 1920s. And it's before Guernica and his subsequent works. I don't think it's a surprise that this painting was owned by Sidney and Francis Brody, who also collected Matisse. Although it's distinctively and recognizably by Picasso, this painting in particular seems to me to be in dialogue with Matisse. Both artists share an interest in radical abstraction of the figure, and here Picasso is using flat color, harmoniously composed lines, and visual references to the fact that this is a studio portrait which contains sculpture (which Matisse also did.) 8.3k Views · View Upvotes · Answer requested by 1 person Written May 10, 2015 “Nude, Green Leaves and Bust” and other paintings from its period are old and easy, art as usual.

They keep to the known, the pleasure zone; they keep old orders firm, artist over subject, man over woman, woman as thing, a pink blob with closed eyes. “Ironically, this painting, which celebrates feminine submissiveness was executed on International Woman’s Day; this would have delighted Picasso. 984 Views · View Upvotes · Answer requested by 1 person Lucy Chen , studied at University of New South Wales Because: 1. of Picasso's fame 2. the imagery is quite interesting, the double "P" embracing the woman (this is my personal favorite part) 827 Views No. 5 - "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust" - Modigliani's "Nu Couché" sells for $170.4 million - second most expensive painting ever sold at auction - Pictures - CBS News Next No. 1 - "Les Femmes d'Alger", Picasso Pablo Picasso's "Les Femmes d'Alger (Version O)" became the most expensive art ever sold at auction for the staggering price of $179 million on May 11, 2015... topping a list of paintings by illustrious international artists.

The Christie's New York auctioneer Jussi Pylkkänen, who sold the painting, referred to the work as "the Mozart of 20th-century painting." By CBSNews.com Senior Photo Editor Radhika Chalasani Credit: via Christie's No. 1 - "Les Femmes d'Alger", Picasso Auctioneer Jussi Pylkkanen takes bids on Pablo Picasso's "Women of Algiers (Version O)," which sold for just over $179 million, setting a world record for art at auction during a sale at Christie's, New York, May 11, 2015. Credit: Kathy Willens/AP No. 1 - O'Keeffe - Priciest female artist Georgia O'Keeffe's 1932 "Jimson Weed, White Flower No. 1," smashed records May 20, 2015 when it sold for $44.4 million to an anonymous buyer -- a price three times larger than the previous auction record for a female artist. Joan Mitchell held the title for highest-selling female artist for an untitled 1960 painting at $11.9 million.

O'Keefe's painting depicts one of the artist's favorite subjects: a magnified flower. O'Keeffe said, "When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else." Credit: Sotheby's No. 2 - “Nu Couché” Amedeo Modigiani's "Nu Couché" sold for $170.4 million with fees November 9, 2015 at Christie's New York in just nine minutes. Originally estimated at $100 million, it became the second most expensive painting sold at auction. The buyer from China placed the bid by phone. Credit: via Christie's No. 3 - "Three Studies of Lucian Freud" Painted by Francis Bacon in 1969, the life-size triptych "Three Studies of Lucian Freud" depicts Bacon's friend Lucian Freud on a wooden chair. Bacon is one of the greatest modern artists of the mid-20th century.

The painting was part of the Christie's, New York sale of post-war and contemporary art auction on November 12, 2013, and was estimated at $85 million. However, a bidding war between seven buyers ultimately pushed the sale price up to $142.4 million. Credit: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images No. 4 - "The Scream", Edvard Munch Norwegian artist Edvard Munch's 1895 pastel on board version of "The Scream" is one of the greatest expressionist masterpieces of all time. Until "Les Femmes d'Algers" made headlines, it was the most expensive painting ever sold at auction, going for $119.9 million at Sotheby's New York in 2012. "The Scream" is also the most expensive pastel drawing. It's been described as an 'expression of personal suffering' because of the artist's tragic family history, which included a sister kept in an asylum, where screams could reportedly be heard outside. Three other versions of the painting exist. Credit: Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images No.

4 - "The Scream", Edvard Much Edvard Munch's 'The Scream' is auctioned at Sotheby's May 2012 Sales of Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary Art in New York City, May 2, 2012. The masterpiece is one of four versions created by Munch and the only one that is privately owned. The masterpiece sold for over $119 million. Credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images No. 5 - "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust" Pablo Picasso's 1932 "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust", estimated at $70 million to 90 million prior to sale, sold for $106.5 million at Christie's in New York inMay 4, 2010. The painting is known as the 'lost Picasso' since it hadn't been seen in public for 60 years. It had previously changed hands back in 1951 for a mere $18,000. Credit: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images No.

6 - "Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) The 1963 two panel "Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster)" by Andy Warhol, sold for $105.4 million at Sotheby's New York in 2013. It is the last in a series of four pieces depicting a car crash. The left side is a set of 15 photos of a car accident. The right side is a large silver rectangle. It surpassed Warhol's previous auction record for Pop Art ("Green Car Crash, 1963) by $30 million. Here, the artwork is on display during a press preview of the auction of contemporary art, at Sotheby's in New York, November 1, 2013. The painting has only been seen once in public since 1987 and was sold to an unknown buyer. Credit: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images No.

7 - "Garcon a la Pipe", Pablo Picasso Pablo Picasso's "Garcon a la Pipe" reached it's $104.2 million price tag in just seven minutes of bidding at Soethby's New York in 2004, a record price for a Picasso until it was surpassed by the sale of "Les Femmes D'Alger". Here, two Sotheby's employees hold up "Garcon a la Pipe" May 5, 2004 during the auction. The great master, Picasso has four paintings in the top 10 list which makes him perhaps one of the most valuable twentieth century painters of all time to date. Credit: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty, AFP/Getty Images No. 8 - "Nurse" The 1964 pop art creation "Nurse" by American artist Roy Lichtenstein sold for $95.4 million at a Christie's New York, part of a curated sale The Artist's Muse on November 9, 2015. It was a record for the Pop artist. The masterpiece, with the artist's signature Ben-Day dots, was painted at the height of Lichtenstein's career.

The auction house described the subject as a "quintessential Lichtenstein heroine" borrowed from a comic romance novel of the early 1960s. The comic book-style painting previously sold at auction for $1.7 million in 1995. Credit: via Christie's No. 9 - "Dora Maar with Cat", "Dora Maar with Cat," one of the largest and most important portraits of Picasso's mistress and muse, was painted in 1941. Estimated at $50 million, it sold for $95.2 million, making it the second most expensive painting sold by an auction house in the history of art. It hadn't been shown to the public for almost 40 years. Credit: Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images No. 10 - "Adele Bloch-bauer II", Klimt Gustav Klimt's "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II," painted in 1912, sold at auction in 2006 for $87.9 million. It is one of two well-known versions; the first version had a gold backdrop. Klimt is considered one of the best portrait artists of pre-war Europe.

Here, Christie's staff work the phones and take bids as an image of Gustav Klimt's "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II" is projected on the screen during the Christie's Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale in New York, November 8, 2006. The painting sold for $87,936,000. Credit: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images No. 11 - "Orange, Red, Yellow", Rothko Mark Rothko's "Orange, Red, Yellow" sold at a Christie's, New York auction in 2012 for $86.9 million, rendering it the most expensive abstract painting by a 20th century painter. Credit: Cate Gillon/Getty Images No. 12 - "Triptych", Francis Bacon Francis Bacon's 1976 "Triptych" had a pre-sale estimate of $70 million, but ultimately sold for $86.3 million in 2008 at a Sotheby's New York Contemporary Art Sale. The painting is considered one of Bacon's most complex and creative.

Credit: Cate Gillon/Getty Images 10 Most Expensive Paintings Sold in the 21st Century «TwistedSifter 1. No., 5, 1948 – Jackson Pollock Adjusted sale price: $151.2 Million | Original sale price: $140 Million (Nov. 2 2006) No. 5, 1948 is a painting by Jackson Pollock, an American painter known for his contributions to the abstract expressionist movement. The painting was done on an 8′ x 4′ (2.4m x 1.2m) sheet of fiberboard, with thick amounts of brown and yellow paint drizzled on top of it, forming a nest-like appearance. It was originally owned by Samuel Irving Newhouse and displayed at the Museum of Modern Art before being sold to David Geffen and then allegedly to David Martinez in 2006. [Source: The New York Times | BBC News ] 2. Woman III – William de Kooning Adjusted sale price: $148.5 Million | Original sale price: $137.5 Million (Nov.

18, 2006) Woman III is a painting by abstract expressionist painter Willem de Kooning. Woman III is one of a series of six paintings by de Kooning done between 1951 and 1953 in which the central theme was a woman. It measures 68 by 48 1/2 inches (1.7 m x 1.2 m) and was completed in 1953. From late 70s to 1994 this painting was part of Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art collection, but after the revolution in 1979, this painting could not be shown because of strict rules set by the government about the visual arts and what they depict. Finally, in 1994 it was quietly traded by Thomas Ammann Fine Art to David Geffen for the remainder of the 16th century Persian manuscript, Tahmasbi Shahnameh. In November 2006, the painting was sold by David Geffen to billionaire Steven A. Cohen for $137.5 million, making it the second most expensive painting ever sold. [Source: The New York Times ] 3.

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I – Gustav Klimt Adjusted sale price: $144.8 Million | Original sale price: $135 Million (June 18, 2006) Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I is a painting by Gustav Klimt completed in 1907. According to press reports it was sold for US$135 million to Ronald Lauder for his Neue Galerie in New York City in June 2006, which made it at that time the most expensive painting ever sold. It has been on display at the gallery since July 2006. Klimt took three years to complete the painting. It measures 138 x 138 cm (54 in x 54 in) and is made of oil and gold on canvas, showing elaborate and complex ornamentation as seen in the Jugendstil style. Klimt was a member of the Vienna Secession, a group of artists that broke away from the traditional way of painting. The picture was painted in Vienna and commissioned by Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer.

As a wealthy industrialist who had made his fortune in the sugar industry, he sponsored the arts and favored and supported Gustav Klimt. Adele Bloch-Bauer became the only model who was painted twice by Klimt when he completed a second picture of her, Adele Bloch-Bauer II, in 1912. [Source: Wikipedia ] 4. Garcon a la pipe – Pablo Picasso Adjusted sale price: $119.9 Million | Original sale price: $104.2 Million (May 4, 2004) Garcon a la Pipe (English: Boy with a Pipe) is a painting by Pablo Picasso. It was painted in 1905 when Picasso was 24 years old, during his Rose Period, soon after he settled in the Montmartre section of Paris, France. The oil on canvas painting depicts a Parisian boy holding a pipe in his left hand and wearing a garland or wreath of flowers. The painting was first bought by John Hay Whitney in 1950 for US$30,000.

On May 5, 2004 the painting was sold for $104,168,000 (USD) at Sotheby’s auction in New York City. Sotheby’s did not say who bought the painting. However, sources say that it was Guido Barilla, owner of the Barilla Group who bought the painting. At the time, it broke the record for the amount paid for an auctioned painting (when inflation is ignored). The amount, $104 million, includes the auction price of $93 million plus the auction house’s commission of about $11 million. The painting was given a pre-sale estimate of $70 million by the auction house. Many art critics have stated that the painting’s high sale price has much more to do with the artist’s name than with the merit or historical importance of the painting. The Washington Post’s article on the sale contained the following characterisation of the reaction: “Picasso expert Pepe Karmel, reached in New York the morning after the sale, was waxing wroth about the whole affair. “I’m stunned,” he said, “that a pleasant, minor painting could command a price appropriate to a real masterwork by Picasso.

This just shows how much the marketplace is divorced from the true values of art.” [Source: Wikipedia ] 5. Nude, Green Leaves and Bust – Pablo Picasso Adjusted sale price: $106.5 Million | Original sale price: $106.5 Million (May 4, 2010) Nude, Green Leaves and Bust (French: Nu au Plateau de Sculpteur) is a 1932 painting by Pablo Picasso, featuring his mistress Marie-Thérèse Walter. The painting was in the personal collection of Los Angeles art collectors Sidney and Frances Brody for nearly six decades. It sold at auction for US$106.5 million, a world record price. Nude, Green Leaves and Bust is one of a series of portraits that Picasso painted of his mistress and muse Marie-Thérèse Walter from 1932. The vibrant blue and lilac canvas is more than five feet tall (1.6m 1.3m | 64 in x 51 in).

It was bought by the Brodys in 1951 from Picasso’s dealer and was only publicly exhibited once, in 1961, to commemorate Picasso’s 80th birthday. Frances Brody died in November 2009. On May 4, 2010, the painting was sold at Christies in New York City. Christie’s won the rights to auction the collection against London-based Sotheby’s. The collection as a whole was valued at over $150 million USD, while the work was originally expected to earn $80 million at auction. There were eight bidders at the auction house, while the winning bid was taken via telephone for $95 million. Including the buyer’s premium, the price reached $106.5 million USD. When inflation is ignored, the painting broke the record price for an art work sold at auction. [Source: Wikipedia ] 6.

Dora Maar au Chat – Pablo Picasso Adjusted sale price: $102.3 Million | Original sale price: $95.2 Million (May 3, 2006) Dora Maar au Chat (Dora Maar with Cat) is a 1941 painting by Pablo Picasso. It depicts Dora Maar, the painter’s lover, seated on a chair with a small cat perched on her shoulders (1.28m x 0.95m | 50.5 in x 37.5 in). The canvas was one of many portraits of Dora Maar painted by Pablo Picasso over their nearly decade-long relationship. Picasso fell in love with the 36-year old Maar at the age of 55 and soon began living with her. This painting was done during the year 1941, when the Nazis were occupying France. In the 1940s, the painting was obtained by Chicago collectors Leigh and Mary Block. They sold the painting in 1963. After that, the painting was never shown until the 21st century. [Source: Wikipedia ] 7.

Eight Elvises – Andy Warhol Adjusted sale price: $100.5 Million | Original sale price: $100 Million (October 2008) EIGHT ELVISES is a 12-foot painting that has all the virtues of a great Andy Warhol: fame, repetition and the threat of death. The canvas is also awash with the artist’s favourite colour, silver, and dates from a vintage Warhol year, 1963. It did not leave the home of Annibale Berlingieri, a Roman collector, for 40 years, but in autumn 2008 it sold for over $100m in a deal brokered by Philippe Ségalot, the French art consultant. That sale was a world record for Warhol and a benchmark that only four other artists—Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Willem De Kooning and Gustav Klimt—have ever achieved. Warhol’s oeuvre is huge. It consists of about 10,000 artworks made between 1961, when the artist gave up graphic design, and 1987, when he died suddenly at the age of 58.

Most of these are silk-screen paintings portraying anything from Campbell’s soup cans to Jackie Kennedy and Mao Zedong, drag queens and commissioning collectors. Warhol also created “disaster paintings” from newspaper clippings, as well as abstract works such as shadows and oxidations. The paintings come in series of various sizes. There are only 20 “Most Wanted Men” canvases, for example, but about 650 “Flower” paintings. Warhol also made sculpture and many experimental films, which contribute greatly to his legacy as an innovator. [Source: The Economist ] 8. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II – Gustav Klimt Adjusted sale price: $94.9 Million | Original sale price: $87.9 Million (Nov. 2, 2006) Adele Bloch-Bauer II is a 1912 painting by Gustav Klimt. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the wife of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, who was a wealthy industrialist who sponsored the arts and supported Gustav Klimt.

Adele Bloch-Bauer was the only model to be painted twice by Klimt; she also appeared in the much more famous Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I. Both portraits of Adele Bloch-Bauer were part of a protracted court battle in the United States and in Austria (see Republic of Austria v. Altmann) which resulted in five Gustav Klimt paintings being returned to Maria Altmann, the niece of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, in January 2006. In November 2006, Christie’s auction house sold “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II” at auction for $88 million, the third-highest priced piece of art at auction at the time. [Source: Wikipedia ] 9. Massacre of the Innocents – Peter Paul Rubens Adjusted sale price: $92.7 Million | Original sale price: $76.7 Million (July 10, 2002) The first version painted by Rubens dates from around 1611–12.

In the seventeenth-century, the painting was part of the Liechtenstein Collection in Vienna, Austria, along with another Rubens’ masterpiece, Samson and Delilah. After having been miscatalogued by Vincenzio Fanti in 1767, it was attributed to one of Rubens’ assistants, Jan van den Hoecke, after Rubens. There it remained until it was sold to an Austrian family in 1920. It was subsequently loaned in 1923 to Stift Reichersberg, a monastery in northern Austria. In 2001, the painting was seen by George Gordon, an expert in Flemish and Dutch paintings at Sotheby’s in London. He was persuaded that it was indeed a Rubens by its similar characteristics and style to the Samson and Delilah picture, painted at around the same time. The work was sold at auction at Sotheby’s, London on July 10, 2002 for $117 Million CAD to Canadian businessman Kenneth Thomson.

Following the auction the painting was loaned to the National Gallery, London for a period before its transfer in 2008 to the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, to whom Thomson had donated it, and which was undergoing a major rebuilding and expansion during these years. [Source: Wikipedia ] 10. Triptych, 1976 – Francis Bacon Adjusted sale price: $86.7 Million | Original sale price: $86.3 Million (May 14, 2008) Francis Bacon’s Triptych 1976, which was originally purchased by Petrus’ Jean-Pierre Moueix in 1977, was sold at auction at Sotheby’s in New York May 14 for $86.3 million, the highest price ever paid for a work of post-war art. The buyer was billionaire Roman Abramovich, and it’s no surprise he would take such an interest in a British artist such as Bacon—the Russian oil magnate, estimated to be worth nearly $20 billion, is best known as the owner of English Premier League soccer club Chelsea, which he purchased in 2003 for a mere $233 million.

[Source: Wine Spectator ] If you enjoyed this article, the Sifter highly recommends: THE MOST EXPENSIVE PROPERTY IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK Picasso's 'Nude Green Leaves, And Bust' Fetches Record $106.5 Million : The Two-Way : NPR Picasso's 'Nude Green Leaves, And Bust' Fetches Record $106.5 Million Embed Embed Nude Green Leaves, and Bust. Picasso painted it in one day. (AP Photo/Christie's, New York) hide caption toggle caption Nude Green Leaves, and Bust. Picasso painted it in one day.

(AP Photo/Christie's, New York) As NPR's Neda Ulaby says, the $106.5 million that an unidentified buyer paid last night for Pablo Picasso's 1932 work Nude Green Leaves, and Bust means that somebody out there isn't feeling the pinch of hard economic times: Picasso's 'Nude Green Leaves, And Bust' Fetches Record $106.5 Million Picasso: most expensive painting ever sold at auction to go on display at Tate Modern in London - Telegraph Art News Picasso: most expensive painting ever sold at auction to go on display at Tate Modern in London The most expensive painting ever sold at auction, Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, is going on display show in the UK for the first time.

Nude, Green Leaves and Bust, (1932) by Pablo Picasso has gone on display for the first time in the UK at the Tate Modern Photo: PA 11:59PM GMT 06 Mar 2011 The 1932 painting, which sold at Christie's in New York last May for a world record price of $106.5 million (£65.5 million), will be displayed from Monday morning at the Tate Modern on London's South Bank. Tate director Nicholas Serota said: ''This is an outstanding painting by Picasso and I am delighted that through the generosity of the lender we are able to bring it to the British public for the first time. ''Nude, Green Leaves and Bust is one of the sequence of paintings of Picasso's muse, Marie-Therese Walter, made by the artist at Boisgeloup, Normandy, in the early months of 1932. They are widely regarded as amongst his greatest achievements of the inter-war period.'' The painting, which has been lent to the gallery by a private collector, will be on display in a new Pablo Picasso room in the Poetry and Dream wing on Level 3 of the building.

The Spanish-born Pablo Picasso first met Marie-Therese Walter in 1927 but kept their relationship a secret from his wife and only began to paint her four years later. An exhibition exploring the links between Picasso and the UK will open at Tate Britain next year. 10 Most Expensive Pablo Picasso Paintings 10 Most Expensive Pablo Picasso Paintings by Nishu Kakkar No comments Pablo Picasso is unarguably one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century. To this day, creations by the Spanish master are among the most prized artworks of collectors and museums around the world. Picasso’s paintings often sell for millions of dollars. But collectors are reluctant to let their precious Picassos out of their possession. The artist’s most expensive painting to sell at an auction; “N***, Green Leaves and Bust” currently holds the world record for being the highest priced painting to ever be auctioned. Which paintings are Picasso’s biggest money-spinners? We listed out the top ten most expensive paintings by Picasso . 1.

N***, Green Leaves And Bust (1932) Auction House: Christie’s Price: $106.5 million in May 2010 “N***, Green Leaves and Bust” tops our list of the most expensive Picasso paintings. It also holds the enviable distinction of being the most expensive painting to ever be sold at an auction. The painting depicts Picasso’s famous mistress and muse Marie-Therese Walter. A nude Marie-Therese sprawls across the bottom half of the painting, while her bust (a sculpture that Picasso had created in 1931) adorns a pedestal. The leaves are of a philodendron or “love tree”, a fast-growing plant that Picasso had in his own home. A closer look reveals Picasso’s lips emerging from behind a veil. Painted within a single day, the painting represents a rich phase of Picasso’s career. By this time, the artist had become very skilled in his art and had begun using symbolism. Back in 1952, art collectors Sidney and Frances Brody bought the artwork for a bargain price of $17,000.

The painting remained in the Brody collection until May 2010, when it fetched $106.5 million at a Christie’s auction. The painting is widely rumored to be part of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich’s art collection. 2. Garcon A La Pipe (1905) Auction House: Sotheby’s Price: $104 million in May 2004 The second most expensive Picasso painting, “Garcon a la Pipe”, is a portrait of a Parisian working boy. The boy holds a pipe in his hand and wears a string of roses on his head like a crown. Picasso painted this masterpiece when he was only 24. As the colors suggest, this artwork belongs to Picasso’s Rose Period. John Whitney, the American ambassador to Britain was the first buyer of this Picasso classic. Whitney bought the painting in 1950 for $30,000. It remained in Whitney’s private collection until May 2004. Whitney’s wife, Betsey, had set up the philanthropic Greentree Foundation after her husband’s death in 1982.

The Foundation put the painting up for auction with Sotheby’s in 2004. Experts at Sotheby’s set pre-auction estimates at $70 million – until then, the highest ever pre-sale estimate for a single painting. As it turned out, “Garcon a la Pipe” overshot the estimates by a massive margin fetching $104 million at the auction. 3. Dora Maar Au Chat (1941) Auction House: Sotheby’s Price: $95.216 million in May 2006 Picasso had several mistresses in his lifetime. One of the most famous was surrealist photographer Dora Maar. “Dora Maar au Chat” is one of Picasso’s most iconic paintings. It is also one of the most expensive. The artwork features Dora sitting on a chair, while a small black cat stands behind her. The painting showcases Picasso’s brilliant use of bold colors. The complex pattern of Dora’s dress adds to her dramatic posture. Picasso had often described Dora as his “private muse”. In 1963, Chicago-based art collectors Leigh and Mary Block sold the painting to a private collection.

The painting returned to the marked only in May 2006 at a Sotheby’s auction. Pre-auction estimates valued the painting at about $50 million. However, the painting surpassed the pre-sale figures by huge margin. An anonymous collector bought the painting from Chicago’s Gidwitz family for almost double the estimated price, paying $95.216 million for it. 4. Femme Aux Bras Croises (1902) Auction House: Christie’s Price: $55 million in November 2000 Also known as “Woman with Crossed Arms”, this painting belongs to Picasso’s Blue Period. The subject of the portrait is believed to be an inmate of the Saint-Lazare hospital-prison in Paris. One of the owners of this famous painting was Gertrude Stein, a writer and art collector who famously became the subject of a Picasso painting in 1906. In 1936, the painting passed into the hands of a new buyer, American art collector Chauncey McCormick.

“Femme aux Bras Croises” remained in the McCormick family until the year 2000, when it was sold via a Christie’s auction to an anonymous buyer, following a tremendous bidding war. The sale price of $55 million remains one of the highest ever fetched by a Picasso painting. 5. Pierrette’s Wedding (1905) Auction House: Binoche et Godeau Price: $51.3 million in November 1989 Picasso painted “Pierette’s Wedding” or “Les Noces des Pierette” in 1905, during his Blue Period. The 4-foot x 6-foot painting shows Harlequin blowing a kiss to the bride. The shades of blue add a degree of moroseness to what should have been a celebratory scene. The presence of blurred images in the painting suggests that the painting might be incomplete. But art experts confirm that the painting is complete. Art dealer Josef Stransky, a friend of Picasso, acquired the painting in 1907. Later, between 1945 and 1962, it passed into the hands of Paulo Picasso, the artist’s son.

Thereafter, Swedish financier Frederick Roos purchased the painting and donated it to the French government. In November 1989, the painting went up on auction. Japanese real estate developer Tomonori Tsurumaki placed the winning bid of $51.3 million via telephone from Tokyo. At the time, this was a record price for a Picasso sold at auction. 6. Femme Assise Dans Un Jardin (1938) Auction House: Sotheby’s Price: $49.5025 million in 1999 In “Femme Assise dans un Jardin”, Picasso once again depicts Dora Maar, this time in a garden setting. By this time, Picasso had begun his experiments with Cubism. The painting is a fine example of his Cubist style. Apparently, Picasso completed this famous painting within the space of one day. “Femme Assise dans un Jardin” remained in the private collection of cellist and composer Daniel Saidenberg for many years. The painting was sold only after Saidenberg’s death in 1997.

But the magic year came in 1999, when the Picasso painting went for about $49.5 million at a Sotheby’s auction in New York. 7. Le Reve (1932) Picasso painting 'Nude, Green Leaves and Bust' fetches record $106.5m at Christie's | Daily Mail Online comments A painting by Picasso broke world records for art sales at auction when it went for £70 million on Tuesday night. Here GLENYS ROBERTS explains what makes Nude, Green Leaves And Bust so sought-after... Dashed off in a single day in 1932, Picasso painted Nude, Green Leaves at the highpoint of his astonishingly productive career. By then, the artist had been through his Blue period, his Cubist period, his Classical and Surrealist periods and was embarking on a rich phase notable for its symbolism as well as his skill. The painting depicts Marie-Therese Walter, one of a series of mistresses and muses who inspired Picasso. Picasso's 'Nude, Green Leaves and Bust' sold for $106.5million (£70.2million) at auction on Tuesday night, a new world record 1.

Peeping Pablo Look carefully, and here you can just see the black outline of Picasso's own nose and lips, partly hiding behind a blue veil. This signifies the secrecy of his illicit relationship with his muse. 2. Double or bust Above the reclining figure of Marie-Therese is a depiction of her own bust on a classical pedestal, a sign of Picasso's high esteem for her. He had made a sculpture bust of her the previous year, and according to Conor Jordan, the head of Modern Art in Christie's, New York, there is an element of self-congratulation in its inclusion in the painting - as if Picasso were pointing out his own virtuosity. The paint on the bust in the picture is ladled on with a palette knife, making it seem like a three-dimensional statue, in contrast to the smoothness of Marie-Therese's body. 3. Lover's leaves These large green leaves depict a philodendron, a common creeping houseplant whose name means 'love tree'. Picasso owned his own philodendron which he kept in the bathroom and grew so astonishingly quickly that he once said that it almost took over his life.

By including it here, he is perhaps making a reference to his all-consuming obsession with Marie-Therese. 4. A dark obsession The two shadows cast over Marie-Therese's naked body are a mystery even to art experts. Some believe they may indicate the erotic submission of Picasso's mistress - but others believe that the one around her throat could be a reference to a celebrated Matisse picture, which Picasso owned and depicted a young girl wearing a black choker. 5. Forbidden fruit By his mistress's elbow, Picasso has painted a plate of apples, a symbol since Biblical times of sexual temptation. Dashed off in a single day in 1932, Picasso painted Nude, Green Leaves at the highpoint of his astonishingly productive career Marie-Therese Walter: Nude muse An illegitimate child with a pushy mother who had encouraged her to form relationships with older, richer men, Marie-Therese was just 17 when she met the 45-year- old Spanish painter in Paris in 1927. For years, they managed to keep the relationship secret from Picasso's wife, Olga Khoklova, a Russian ballerina with whom he had a young son, Paulo.

But when Marie-Therese fell pregnant in 1935, the pretence was over. But a year after she gave birth to Picasso's daughther, Maya, the artist met a new mistress, Dora Maar. Insanely jealous of her love rival, Marie-Therese later encountered Dora unexpectedly in Picasso's studio and the two women started a physical fight, which Picasso subsequently called one of his choicest memories. Marie-Therese committed suicide in 1977, four years after Picasso's death at the age of 91. Doze pose The large canvas depicts an almost life-size Marie-Therese in lilac, a colour favoured by Picasso to depict his lover's pale flesh. The voluptuous girl is asleep, a pose he favoured for his women, reflecting his own obsession with submission and possession. A prospective buyer admires Matisse's 'Nu au coussin bleu' as Picasso's piece hangs alongside it prior to the auction The sellers The painting had belonged to the estate of Los Angeles philanthropists Sydney and Frances Brody, whose art collection included celebrated works by Giacometti, Matisse and Braque.

The Brodys, whose money came from property, lived in a modernist house designed to show off their collection - Matisse created a mural for their courtyard. This Picasso, the pride of their collection, was bought in 1952 for $17,000 from a New York art dealer, who had acquired it from the painter in 1936. All 27 lots from the Brody estate that were included in this week's sale found buyers, and the total proceeds of £148million will go towards the upkeep of the magnificent grounds of California's Huntingdon library, which the couple adored. The buyer The successful bid was made by a telephone buyer who wants to remain anonymous. Some believe he must be a Russian oligarch. But among art insiders, speculation is rife that he may be Californian hedge fund manager Steve Cohen - who owns an art collection worth around £400 million. Cohen has always wanted a Picasso painting of Marie-Therese and four years ago agreed to buy one owned by Las Vegas casino boss Steve Wynn, entitled The Dream.

The agreed price of $139 million would have made it the most expensive private sale ever, but the sale fell through when Wynn accidentally put his elbow through the painting. The price When the hammer finally came down at $106.5 million (£70 million), the painting beat the previous record of $104.2 million for an auctioned artwork set in 2004 for another Picasso painting, Boy With A Pipe. It also trumped the $103.4 million achieved in London last February for Giacometti's Walking Man sculpture. The value of Tuesday's sale was augmented by the fact that, having been in a private collection for 50 years, the painting had been shown in public only once - to celebrate Picasso's 80th birthday.

Question: Sold for $106.5 million in 2010, 'Nude, Green Leaves and Bust' is which artist's most expensive painting?
Answer: PABLO PICASSO